Merit Travel working hard to Deliver Life

In 2017, Merit launched a three-month campaign across Canada in support of WaterAid‘s Deliver Life program in Tanzania which raised an impressive $30,814.52! This past year, Merit contributed over $90,000 to support WaterAid’s work through various employee engagement events, corporate sponsorship and travel credits.

Merit is the largest independent specialty travel company in Canada and serves more than 350,000 travelers every year. We are proud to be Merit’s Charity of Choice!

“Our involvement with WaterAid has been more rewarding than we could have expected. Our staff are polarized towards a common goal,” said Louise de Grandpré, Chief Operating Officer, Merit Travel Group. “These efforts will forever be part of a driving force to bring access to safe water, toilets and hygiene to all. We are dedicated to being an extension of the WaterAid team, joining together and being part of the solution.”

Thank you Merit Travel: Together we’re giving babies the healthy start they deserve.

This past fall, Merit called on their employees and clients to be mindful of the broader world around them by supporting WaterAid. And rise to the challenge they did, raising more than $30,000.

The funds raised will help young mothers like Teresa through WaterAid Canada’s Deliver Life program. Teresa, a mother of two, delivered her second child in June of 2017 at the clinic in Nyarugusu. Her child died at seven days old.

Many local health clinics in Tanzania do not have clean water on site or anywhere nearby. The clinic often asks patients to bring water with them to the clinic, particularly for delivering babies. The risk of cross-infection and disease grows exponentially when water and sanitation conditions are not properly managed. As a result, many health facilities, which are supposed to promote good health and recovery, end up compromising the health of both patients and staff.

The Deliver Life program is part of the Canada - Africa Initiative to Address Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality in sub-Saharan Africa—a partnership among four Canadian organizations, including WaterAid, jointly funded by the Government of Canada. Thanks to Merit’s support we are closer to achieving our goal of changing the lives of over 660,000 mothers, babies, children and men by dramatically improving the water, sanitation and hygiene conditions at twelve health clinics in these two deeply impoverished regions in Tanzania.

From WaterAid staff, partners, volunteers, and most importantly recipients of clean water, THANK YOU Merit Travel for sharing our vision of a world where everyone everywhere has access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Visit Merit's campaign page to learn more.

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